Heretofore, various types of deployment mechanisms have been employed for implanting stents and other expansible medical devices. Additionally, various types of handle arrangements are known for use with self-expanding stents. One of the problems associated with delivery of relatively long length self-expanding stents is that deployment of these stents requires a relatively high amount of force to remove a sheath or other retainer. Higher forces associated with delivery, in turn, can interfere with the accuracy of stent placement.
Consequently, there remains a need for a delivery handle that can accurately place an expansible medical device within a body lumen and cope with increased forces.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56(a) exists.
All U.S. patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.